• Chapter Two:

    The ‘Ms. Jacklen incident’ still was in my mind when lunch came around, and I was zoned out while I opened my sack lunch. Toby, Johnny, Sami, and Marlo seemed to have forgotten about it. They seemed so bright and cheerful. It kind of made me mad.
    I finally snapped, “Haven’t you guys even think about what happen this morning?”
    They stared at me like I was crazy, “Shay,” Toby said, “are you ok? You seem tense.”
    I groaned, “Oh God! No, I’m not oh-friggin-k! Our math teacher had a mental breakdown three feet away from us, and ya’ll are being all happy like it never happened!”
    Marlo sighed, “Look, Shay, you can’t just let that incident be on your mind all day, you’ll basically get screwed. Johnny, Toby, Sami, and I aren’t thinking about it, yeah, this morning scared us, but we are trying not to think about it.”
    I looked down, “Ok, but, I think we should do something about it. You know I don’t take things just sitting down. I want to find out what that thing Ms. Jacklen was talking about. Don’t you guys?”
    “No, not really,” Johnny said, eating another chip from his bag of Lays, “Anyone smart knows not to go into the woods outside of the academy.” He then brushed crumbs off his clothes, “It’s real thick woods, you could get lost.”
    Sami leaned in, “I think we should check it out. We could use some adventure in our lives.” Marlo, Toby, and Johnny stared at her in disbelief.
    “I knew I was the sane sister,” Marlo said.
    “Sami, are you crazy?” Toby nearly spat.
    “Oh God she gone over to the Shay side.” Johnny muttered.
    I just sat there and smiled, “See? Sam agrees, now who else?”
    Sami and I looked around until Toby gave in, “Fine,” he mumbled, “I’m in.”
    “Marlo? Johnny?” I smiled wickedly.
    Marlo sighed again, “I guess I’ll go. It might be fun, whatever.”
    “I ain’t going.” Johnny said, crossing his arm like a stubborn kid, “But you guys go, go and get mauled by a bear or wolf.”
    “John-” I began, but the bell interrupted me, and Johnny was gone in a flash.
    “Let’s go.” Toby said.
    Marlo, Sami, Toby, and I got up to leave the cafeteria building, and headed for English. When we got there, Johnny wasn’t there. He usually beat us to English because his locker was closest to the English room.
    Toby peered his head out the classroom, “He’s not at his locker,” he informed us.
    Marlo and Sami looked at me, “Where could he be?” Sami asked.
    “Bathroom?” I guessed.
    The tardy bell rang and Johnny still didn’t walk in as we sat down and began the beginning assignment.
    “This is usually the class Johnny’s on time to,” Toby whispered to me as we worked.
    “I know, where the heck is he?” I quietly spat.
    “No talking! The only noise is moving pencils!” our English teacher, Mr. Teach, snapped.
    After another long four class periods, no one could find Johnny as we walked home from school.
    “Maybe he feels sick,” Marlo said, “Maybe that’s why he didn’t want to go to the woods.”
    “Yeah,” Sami agreed, "or maybe he ditched, thankfully Mom and Dad should be gone when we get home, so they won't know."
    Then the two girls looked at each other and then gasped.
    Marlo gasped, “Oh God! What if someone took him while going to the school building during lunch?”
    I saw Toby at the entrance of the woods, I began walking toward him.
    “Toby? Is something wrong?” I put my hand on his shoulder, and he turned around, he looked terrified. He looked like he saw a ghost, or what Ms. Jacklen saw.
    Marlo and Sami were behind me, “Johnny wasn’t taken by a person,” Toby held up a backpack, “He was taken by something worse.”
    Everyone took a look at the backpack, and gasped. It was Johnny’s.
    “He was taken by something in the woods!” Marlo gasped.
    “This means two things.” Sami said.
    “Johnny is lost in the woods.” Toby said.
    “And two, we need to go in the woods and get Johnny back.” I finished. I looked at my friends, and they all nodded.